•  No.  43. 

THE-.GREAT  QUESTION  ANSWERED. 


1iY    REV.    ANDREW    FULLER. 


Then  he  called  ibr~n  light,  and  sprang  in,  and  came  trembling,  and 
fell  down  before  Paid  and  Silas  ;  and'bfought  them  out,  and  said,. 
Sirs,  what  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  And  they  said,  Believe  on  the 
Loed  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  slndt  be  saved.     Acts  16  :  29-31.    . 

That  great  numbers  of  people,  even  in  this  christianized 
country,  are  ignorant  of  the  way  of  salvation,  is  too  evident 
to  be  denied.  It  is  manifestly  no  part  of  their  concern,  any 
more  than  if  the}'  were  in  no  danger  of  being  lost,  or  such  a 
thing  as  salvation  bad  never  been  heard  of.  Nor  is  this  true 
only  of  weak  and  illiterate  people ;  men  who  in  all  other  con  - 
cerns  are  wise,  in  these  things  have  no  knowledge  or  sense  to 
direct  them.  The  evil  therefore  cannot  be  ascribed  to  simple 
ignorance,  which,  as  far  as  it  goes,  tends  to  excuse;  but  to 
being  willingly  ignorant,  saying  unto  God,  "  Depart  from  us — 
we  desire  not  the  knowledge  of  thy  ways.-" 

God,  however,  has  a  witness  in  every  man's  conscience. 
Every  man,  whatever  he  may  pretend,  feels  himself  to  be  a 
sinner,  and  to  need  forgiveness.  Ignorant  and  idolatrous  as 
the  Philippian  jailer  had  been  all  his  life,  yet,  when  death 
stared  him  in  the  face,  he  trembled  and  cried  for  mercy. 
And  if  it  was  thus  with  the  heathen,  much  more  is  it  likely  to 
be  thus  with  those  who  have  been  educated  under  the  light' 
of  revelation.  The  mo3t  careless  and  thoughtless  cannot 
tand  the  approach  of  death.  The  courage  of  the  most  har- 
sened  infidel  commonly  fails  him  at  that  solemn  period. 


Header,  are  you  one  of  the  many  who  scarcely  ever  think 
of  thes9  things  ;  and  whose  chief  concern  is,  what  you  shall 
eat,  what  you  shall  drink,  and  wherewithal  you  shall  be  cloth- 
ed?    Let  the  anxiety  of  a  heathen  reprove  you. 

If  you  were  made  only  to  eat  and  drink,  and  enjoy  life,  for  a 
few  years,  and  then  to  sink  into  nothing,  you  might  well  throw 
aside  every  care,  except  that  which  respects  your  present 
gratification.  But  you  are  of  an  order  of  beings  distinguished 
trom  all  others  in  the  creation.  In  your  nature  are  united 
mortality  and  immortality  ;  the  dust  of  the  ground,  and  the 
breath  of  the  Almighty.  Life  to  you  is  but  the  introduction 
to  existence,  a  short  voyage  which  will  land  you  on  the  shores 
of  eternity.  You  are  surrounded  by  a  number  of  objects,  and 
f  jel"aii  interest  in  each.  You  build  houses,  plant  orchards, 
rear  animals,  and  form  to  yourself  a  home  ;  but  you  are  not 
at  home.  Your  feelings  associate  with  these  things,  but  they 
are  not  fit  associates  for  you,  You  may  have  a  portion  in  all 
t  iat  is  doing  in  your  family,  and  in  your  country,  yea,  and  in 
some  sort,  all  that  is  done  under  the  sun ;  but  this  is  not  suf- 
ficient for  you.  The  time  draweth  nigh,  when  there  will  be 
an  end  to  all  these  things,  and  they  will  be  as  though  they 
had  not  been  ;  but  you  will  still  live.  You  will  witness  the 
wreck  of  nature  itself,  and  survive  it;  and  stand  before  the 
Son  of  man  at  his  appearing  and  kingdom.  Can  you  think 
of  these  things,  and  be  unconcerned  ? 

Or,  though  you  be  an  immortal  and  accountable  creature 
— as  your  conscience  tells  you  you  are,  whenever  you  consult 
it,  and  sometimes  when  you  would  gladly  shut  your  ears 
against  it — yet,  if  you  hid  not  sinned  against  your  Maker,  there 
would  be  no  cause  for  alarm.  A  sinless  creature  has  nothing  O 
to  fear  from  a  righteous  God.  The  approach  of  an  assize, 
with  all  its  solemn  pomp,  does  not  terrify  the  innocent ;  neith- 
er would  judgment  or  eternity  inspire  the  least  degree  of 
dread,  if  you  were  guiltless.  But  you  are  a  sinner,  a  corrupt 
branch  of  a  corrupt  stock.  Cod  placed,  as  I  may  say,  a  gen- 
erous confidence  in  our  species,  and  required  nothing  in  return 
but  love;  but  we  have  returned  him  evil  for  good.  You,  for 
yourself,  are  conscious  that  )rou  have  done  so,  and  that  it  is 
in  your  very  nature  to  do  evil. 

Or,  though  you  be  what  is  called  a  sinner,  yet,  if  sin  U&re 
your  misfortune,  rather  than  your  fault,  you  might  fly  for  refuge 


3 

to  the  equity  of  your  Maker.  But  this  is  not  the  case.  What- 
ever  may  be  said  as  to  the  maimer  in  which  you  became  a 
sinner,  and  however  you  may  wish  to  excuse  yourself  on  that 
ground,  your  own  conscience  bearo  witness,  that  what  you 
are  you  choose  to  be,  and  occasionally  reproaches  you  for  be- 
ing so.  You  may  speculate  upon  sin  as  a  kind  of  hereditary 
disease,  which  is  merely  a  misfortune,  not  a  fault ;  but  if  so, 
why  do  you  feel  guilt  on  account  of  it  ?  Why  do  you  not  also 
acquit  others  of  blame,  where  the  evil  is  directed  against  you? 
You  do  not  think  of  excusing  a  fellow-creature,  when  he  in- 
jures you,  upon  any  such  grounds  as  you  allege  in  excuse  of 
transgression  against  God.  If  he  be  rational,  and  his  offence  ■ 
voluntary,  you  make  no  further  inquiry  ;  but,  without  any 
hesitation,  pronounce  him  criminal. 

Out  of  your  own  mouth,  therefore,  shall  you  be  judged. 
The  inability  that  you  feel  to  do  good,  is  entirely  owing  to 
your  having  no  heart  to  it.  It  is  of  the' same  nature- as  that 
of  an  unprincipled  servant,  who  cannot  seek  his  master's  in- 
terest, but  is  always  defrauding  him.  You  would  not  hold 
such  a  servant  blameless.  Nor  will  God  hold  you  so.  You 
are  not  destitute  of  those  powers  which  render  us  accounta- 
ble beings,  but  merely  of  a  heart  to  make  use  of  them  for 
God.  You  take  pleasure  in  knowledge,  but  desire  not  the 
knowledge  of  his  ways;  in  conversation,  but  the  mention  of 
serious  religion  strikes  you  dumb  ;  in  activity,  but  in  his  ser- 
vice you  are  as  one  that  is  dead.  You  are  fond  of  news  ;  but 
that  which  angels  announced,  and  the  Son  of  God  came  down 
to  publish,  gives  you  no  pleasure.  All  these  things  prove, 
beyond  a  doubt,  where  the  inability  lies. 

Or,  if  sin  should  be  allowed  to  be  your  fault,  yet,  if  it  were 
a  small  offence,  an  imperfection  that  might  be  overlooked,  or 
so  slight  a  matter  that  you  could  atone  for  it  by  repentance, 
or  prayers,  or  tears,  or  any  effort  of  your  own,  there  might  be 
less  reason  for  alarm.  But  neither  is  this  the  case.  If  sin 
were  so  light  a  matter  as  it  is  commonly  made,  how  is  it  that 
a  train  of  the  most  awful  curses  should  be  denounced  against 
the  sinner?  Is  it  possible,  that  a  just  and  good  God  would 
curse  his  creatures  in  basket  and  in  store,  in  their  houses  and 
in  their  fields,  in  their  lying  clown,  and  in  their  rising  up,  and 
in  all  that  they  set  their  hands  to,  for  a  mere  Iriiie,  or  an  im- 
perfection that  might  be  overlooked  ? 


If  sin  were  a  light  thing,  how  is  it  that  the  Father  of  mer- 
cies should  have  doomed  all  mankind  to  death,  and  to  all  the 
miseries  that  prepare  its  way,  on  account  of  it?  How  is  it 
that  wicked  men  die  tinder  "such  fearful  apprehensions? 
Above  all,  how  is  it  that  it  should  require  the  eternal  Son  of 
God  to  become  incarnate,  and  to  be  made  a  sacrifice,  to  atone 
f)V  it? , 

But  if  sin  be  thus  offensive  to  God,  then  are  you  in  a  fear- 
ful situation.  If  you  had  the  whole  world  to  offer  tor  your 
ransom,  it  would  be  of  no  account.  Were  that  which  you  of- 
fered ever  so  pure,  it  could  have  no  influence  .whatever  to- 
wards atoning  for  your  past  guilt,  any  more  than  the  tears  of 
a  murderer  can  atone  for  blood:  but  this  is  not  the  case — 
those  very  performances  by  which  you  hope  to  appease  the 
divine  anger,  are  polluted  with  sin. 

You  are,  whether  you  know  it  or  not,  a  lost  sinner,  and  that 
in  the  strongest  sense  of  the  term.  Men  judge  of  sin  only  by 
its  open  acts,  but  God  looketh  directly  at  the  heart.  Their 
censures  fall  only  on  particular  branches  of  immorality, 
which  strike  immediately  at  the  well-being  of  society;  but 
God  views  the  root  of  the  mischief,  and  takes  into  considera- 
tion all  its  mischievous  bearings.  "  Know  thou,  therefore, 
and  consider,  that  it  is  an  evil  thing  and  bitter  that  thou 
hast  done ;  that  thou  hast  departed  from  the  living  God,  and 
that  my  fear  is  not  in  thee,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts." 

Finally:  Though  your  sin  be  exceedingly  offensive  to  your 
Creator,  and  though  you  can  make  no  atonement  for  it,  3ret, 
if  you  could  resist  Ms  power,  escape  his  hand,  or  endure  his  luratli, 
your  unconcern  might  admit  of  some  kind 'of  apology.  Sure- 
ly, 1  need  not  prove  to  you  that  you  cannot  resist  his  power 
— what  is  your  strength,  when  tried?  You  may,  in  the  hour 
of  health  and  festivity,  and  when  in  company  with  others 
like  yourself,  indulge  your  pride,  and  boast  great  things  ;  but 
if  God  touch  you  with  his  afflicting  hand,  your  strength  and 
your  courage  instantly  forsake  you. 

And  will  you  go  on  to  provoke  Omnipotence?  Canst  thou 
esu'tph  his  hand  ?  Whither  wilt  thou  rlee"?  If,  attentive  to 
thy  safety,  the  rocks  could  fall  on  thee,  or  the  mountains 
cover  thee,  yet  would  they  not  be  able  to  hide  thee  from  the 
face  of  him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  from  the  wrath 
of  the  Lamb.     God  hath  beset  thee  behind  and  before,  and 


laid  his  hand  upon  thee.  Whither  wilt  thou  go  from  his 
spirit?  Whither  wilt  thou  flee  from  his  presence  ?  If  thou 
ascend  to  heaven,  he  is  there.  Or  if  thou  make  thy  bed  in 
hell,  behold,  he  is  there ! 

The  only  question  that  remains  is,  whether  thou  canst  en- 
dure his  displeasure.  And  this  must  surely  be  a  forlorn  hope! 
Can  thine  heart  endure,  and  thine  hands  be  strong,  in  the  day 
that  he  shall  deal  with  thee  ?  Think  of  the  wrath  to  come.  If 
it  were  founded  in  caprice  or  injustice,  supported '  by  con- 
scious innocence,  you  might  possibly  bear  it;  but,  should  you 
perish,  you  will  be  destitute  of  this  resource.  Conscience  will 
eternally  say  Amen  to  the  justice  of  your  sufferings.  If  you 
had  mere  justice  done  you,  unmixed  with  mercy,  your  suffer- 
ings would  be  more  tolerable  than  they  will  be;  but  if  you 
perish,  you  must  have  your  portion  with  Bethsaida  and  Cho- 
razin.  Goodness  gives  an  edge  to  justice.  The  displeasure 
of  a  kind  and  merciful  being — and  such  is  the  wrath  of  the 
Lamb — is  insupportable. 

If,  after  having  heard  these  truths,  and  lived  in  a  country 
where  they  are  fully  declared,  you  do  not  feel  interested  by 
them,  you  have  reason  to  fear  that  God  has  given  you  up  to 
hardness  of  heart,  and  that  the  language  of  the  prophet  is 
fulfilled  in  you  :  "  Go  unto  this  people,  and  say,  Hearing,  ye 
sLall  Lear,  and  not  understand ;  and  seeing,  ye  shall  see,  and 
not  perceive  :  for  the  heart  of  this  people  is  waxed  gross,  and 
their  ears  are  dull  of  hearing,  and  their  eyes  Lave  they  closed, 
lest  tLey  sLould  see  with  tLeir  eyes,  and  Lear  witL  tLeir  ears, 
and  understand  with  their  heart,  and  should  be  converted, 
and  I  should  heal  them."  Remember  that,  in  Old-Testament 
times,  when  God  blessed  his  people  Israel  with  singular  tem- 
poral blessings,  he  punished  their  transgressions  mostly  with 
temporal  judgments  ;  but  now  that  we  are  favored  with  sin- 
gular spiritual  privileges,  the  neglect  of  them  is  commonly 
punished  with  spiritual  judgments. 

But  whether  you  will  hear,  or  whether  you  will  forbear,  I 
will  declare  unto  you  the  only  way  or  salvation.  That 
which  was  addressed  to  the  Philippian  jailer,  is  addressed  to 
you.  "  God  has  so  loved  the  world,  as  to  give  his  only  be- 
gotten Son,  that  whosoever  telieveth  in  Jiim,  should  not  perish, 
but  have  everlasting  life."  He  hath  given  him  hot  only  to 
teach  uh  the  good  and  the  right  way,  but  to  be  made  a  aacii- 


6 

fice  for  sin,  and  as  such  to  be  himself  the  way.  He  suffered 
from  the  hands  of  wicked  men  ;  but  this  wasnot  all ;  it  pleased 
the  Lord  to  bruise  him.  ;  He  hath  put  him  to  grief,  and  made 
his  soul  an  offering  for  sin.  He  commanded  his  sword  to 
awake  against  him,  that  through  his  death  he  might  turn  his 
hand  in  mercy  towards  perishing  sinners.  He  hath  set  him 
forth  to  be  a  propitiation  to  declare  his  righteousness,  that  he 
might  be  just,  and  the  justifier  of  him  that  believeth  in  Jesus. 

This  is  the  only  sacrifice  which  is  well-pleasing  to  God.  All 
that  went  before,  were  of  no  account  but  as  they  pointed  to 
it ;  .and  all  the  prayers  and  praises  of  sinful  creatures  are  no 
otherwise  acceptable  than  as  presented  through  it.  It  is  not 
for  you  to  go  about  to  appease  the  divine  displeasure,  or  to 
recommend  yourself  to  the  Saviour  by  any  efforts  of  your  own; 
but  despairing  of  help  from  every  other  quarter,  to  receive 
the  atonement  which  Christ  hath  made.  To  this  you  are  in- 
vited, and  that  in  the  most  pressing  terms.  He  that  made 
Him,  who  knew  no  sin,  to  be  sin  for  us,  that  we  might  be 
made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him,  hath  on  this  ground 
committed  to  his  servants  the  ministr}'-  of  reconciliation  ;  and 
they,  as  ambassadors  for  Christ,  as  though  God  did  beseech 
vou  by  them,  pray  vou  in  Christ's  stead,  "  Be  ye  reconciled 
to  God." 

The  blessings  of  pardon,  peace,  and  eternal  life,  are  com- 
pared to  a  feast,  or  marriage-supper,  which  the  King  of  hea- 
ven and  earth  hath  made  for  his  Son  ;  and  he  hath  com- 
manded his  servants  to  go  forth,  as  to  the  highways  and 
hedges,  and  to  invite  without  distinction  ;  yea,  to  compel  them 
to  come  in.  Nor  is  this  all :  you  are  exhorted  and  command- 
ed to  believe  in  Christ,  on  pain  of  damnation.  All  your  other 
sins  expose  you  merely  to  the  curse  of  the  law  ;  but  the  sin 
of  unbelief,  if  persisted  in,  will  expose  you,  like  the  barren  fig- 
tree,  to  the  curse  of  the  Saviour,  from  which  there  is  no  re- 
demption. 

Say  not  in  thine  heart,  "  All  these  things  1  have  believed 
from  my  youth  up."  You  may  indeed  have  been  taught  them, 
and  have  received  them  as  a  tradition  from  your  fathers;  but 
such  faith  is  dead,  and  consequently  inoperative.  It  is  the 
same  as  that  of  the  Jews  towards  Moses,  which  our  Saviour 
would  not  admit  to  be  faith.  "  If  ye  believed  Mosee,  ye 
would  believe  me,  for  he  wrote  of  me."     It  is  no  better  than 


the  faith  of  devils,  and  in  some  respects  has  less  influence: 
for  they  believe  and  tremble,  whereas  you  believe  and  are  at 
ease. 

But  it  may  be  you  will  say,  "  I  have  examined  Christianity 
for  myself,  and  am  fully  persuaded  it  is  true."  Yet  it  has  no 
effect  upon  you  any  more  than  if  you  disbelieved  it,  unless  h 
he  to  restrain  you  within  the  limits  of  exterior  decorum, 
Your  Jaith,  therefore,  must  still  he  dead,  being  alone.  Believ- 
ing in  Christ  is  not  the  exercise  of  a  mind  at-ease,  casting  up 
the  evidences  for  and  against,  and  then  coldly  assenting,  ns 
in  a  question  of  science,  to  that  side  which  seems  to  have  the 
greatest  weight  of  proof.  To  one  whose  mind  is  subdued  to 
the  obedience  of  faith,  there  is  indeed  no  want  of  evidence; 
but  it  is  not  so  much  from  external  proofs,  as  from  its  own 
intrinsic  glory  and  suitableness  to  his  case  as  a  perishing 
sinner,  that  he  feels  himself  impelled  to  receive  it. 

The  Gospel  is  too  interesting,  and  has  too  much  influence 
on  our  past  and  future  conduct,  to  be  an  object  of  unfeeling 
speculation.  It  is  "a  hope  set  before  us,"  which  none  but 
those  who  are  "ready  to  perish"  will  ever  embrace.  To  be- 
lieve it,  is  to  renounce  our  own  wisdom,  our  own  righteous- 
ness, and  our  own  will,  and  to  fall  into  the  arms  of  mere  grace, 
through  the  atoning  blood  of  the  cross.  If  the  good  news  of 
salvation  be  not  in  this  manner  believed,  it  signifies  but  little 
what  speculative  notions  we  may  entertain  concerning  it;  for 
where  there  is  no  renunciation'  of  self,  there  is  no  dependence 
upon  Christ  for  justification ;  and  where  there  is  no  such 
dependence,  there  is  no  revealed  interest  in  that  important 
blessing;  but  the  curses  and  threatenings  of  Cod  stand  in  all 
their  force  aeainstus. 


FART  II. 

Had  the  question  proposed  by  the  jailor  been  addressed  to 
the.  first  genius  upon  earth,  unacquainted  with  the  Gospel,  it 
could  not  have  been  answered.  Had  it  been  put  to  all  the 
great  philosophers  of  antiquity,  one  by  one,  and  to  all  the 
learned  doctors  among  the  Jews,  none  of  them  could  have 
resolved  it  to  any  good  purpose.  Nor,  amidst  all  the  boasted 
light  of  modern  times,  can  a  single  unbeliever  be  found  who 
could  know  what  to  do  with  it.  Yet  it  is  a  question  which 
arises  in  every  man's  mind,  at  one  period  or  other  of  his  life ; 
and  a  question  which  must  be  resolved,  or  we  are  lost  forever. 

Reader,  this  important  question  may  have  already  occupied 
your  mind.  An  alarming  sermon,  a  death  in  your  family,  a 
hint  from  a  faithful* friend,  or  it  may  be,  an  impressive  dream, 
has  awakened  your  attention.  You  cannot  take  pleasure,  as 
formerly,  in  worldly  company  and  pursuits;  yet  you  have  no 
pleasure  in  religion.  You  have  left  off  many  vices,  and  have 
complied  with  many  religious  duties,  but  can  find  no  rest  for 
your  soul.  The  remembrance  of  the  past  is  bitter;  the  pros- 
pect of  the  future  may  be  more  so.  The  thought  of  God 
troubles  you.  You  have  even  wished  that  you  had  never  been 
born,  or  that  you  could  new  shrink  back  into  non-existence, 
or  that  you  were  any  thing  rather  than  a  man.  But  you  are 
aware  that  all  these  wishes  are  vain>  You  do  exist;  your 
nature  is  stamped  with  immortality ;  you  must  go  forward 
and  die,  and  stand  before  this  holy  Lord  God! 

If  these,  or  such  like  exercises,  occupy  your  mind,  the  ques- 
tman ot  the  Philipian  jailer  is  yours ;  and  to  you  let  me  address 
a  few  directions,  included  or  implied  in  the  answer. 

If  by  this  question  you  mean,  What  can  j^ou  do  to  appease 
the  wrath  of  God,  or  recommend  yourself  as  a  fit  object  of  his 
mercy?  What  eanyou  do  as  a  good  deed,  or  the  beginning 
of  a  course  of  good  deeds,  in  reward  of  which  he  may  bestow 
upon  you  an  interest  in  the  Saviour  ?  I  answer,  Nothing.  An 
interest  in  Christ,  and  eternal  life,  are  indeed  given  as  a  re- 
ward; but  not  of  any  thing  we  have  done,  or  can  do,  even 
with  divine,  assistance;  it  is  the  reward  of  the  obedience  of 
Christ  unto  death.  To  us  it  is  of  mere  grace,  and  as  such  must 
be  received.     Though  faith  is  in  itself  a  holy  exercise  of  the 


mind,  yet,  as  that  by  which 'we  are  justified,  it  is  directly 
opposed  to  doing.  "  To  him  that  worketh  is  the  reward  not 
reckoned  of  grace,  but  of  debt ;  but  to  him  that  worketh  not, 
but  believeth  on  him  that  justifieth  the  ungodly,  his  faifch  is 
counted  for  righteousness.'"  He  that  worketh,  seeks  to  obtain 
life  and  the  favor  of  God,  in  some  way  or  other,  as  a  reward; 
but  he  that  believeth,  receives  it  as  a  free  gift  to  the  unworthy. 
And  let  me  apprizeyou,  that  this  is  the  state  of  mind  you  must 
be  brought  to,  or  you  must  perish  forever.  So  far  as  you 
think  of  doing  anything,  call  it  what  you  may,  with  a  hope  of 
being  pardoned  and  justified  for  its  sake,  so  far  you  reject 
the  only  way  of  salvation,  and  have  reason  to  expect  your 
portion  with  unbelievers, 

Let  me  deal  freely  with  you.  Yours  is  a  most  serious  situ- 
ation. The  Gospel-rest  is  before  you;  and  if  you  enter  not  in, 
it  will  be  because  of  unbelief.  You  know  the  answer  given 
to  the  jailer;  and  this  is  the  only  answer  that  can  with 
safety  be  given  to  you.  Consider,  and  beware,  as  you 
regard  your  eternal  salvation,  that  you  take  up  your 
rest  in  nothing  short  of  it.  But,  in  the  first  place,  let  me 
declare  unto  you  the  Gospel  of  God,  which  you  are  directed 
to  believe.  If  this  meet  your  case;  if,  rightly  understood,  it 
approve  itself  not  only  to  your  conscience,  but  your  whole 
soul ;  if  it  accord  with  your  desires,  as  it  undoubtedly  does 
with  your  necessities,  all  is  well,  and  well  forever.  I  shall  not 
trouble  you  with  the  opinions  of  men  as  to  what  the  Gospel 
is,  nor  even  with  my  own,  but  direct  you  to  the  account  given 
of  it  by  its  Author.  The  New  Testament  informs  us  what  it 
is,  in  such  plain  and  pointed  language,  that  he  who  runs  may 
read :  "  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only-begotten 
Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him,  should  not  perish  but 
have  everlasting  life."  "  Moreover,  brethren,  I  declare  unto 
you  the  Gospel  which  I  preached  unto  you,  which  also  ye  have 
received,  and  wherein  ye  stand;  by  which  also  ye  are  saved,  if 
ye  keep  in  memory  what  I  preached  unto  you,  unless  ye  have 
believed  in  vain.  For  I  delivered  unto  you,  first  of  all, 
that  which  I  also  received,  how  that  Christ  died  for  our  sins 
according  to  the  Scriptures ;  and  that  he  was  buried,  and  that 
he  rose  again  the  third  day  according  to  the  Scriptures." 
"This  is  a  faithful  saying," — a  truth  of  such  importance  ae 
to  have  become  a  kind  of  Christian  proverb — "  and  worthv  of 


10 

all  acceptation,  that  Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world  to  save  sin- 
ners, of  whom  I  am  chief."  "We  preach  Christ  crucified.''  "1 
determined  not  to  know  ant  thing  among  you,  save  Jesus 
Christ  and  him  crucified."  "This  is  the  record,  that  God  hath 
given  to  us  eternal,  life,  and  this  life  is  in  his  Son." 

It  is  not  meant,b.y  these  brief  descriptions  of  the  Gospel,  that 
there  is  no  other  truth  necessary  to  be  believed,  but  that  the 
doctrine  of  the  cross,  properly  embraced,  includes  all  others, 
or  draws  after  it  the  belief  of  them. 

The  import  of  this  Gospel  is,  that  God  is  in  the  right,  and 
we  are  in  the  wrong;  that  we  have  transgressed  against  him 
without  cause,  and  are  justly  exposed  to  everlasting  punish- 
ment; that  mercy,  originating  purely  in  himself,  required, for 
.the  due  honor  of  his  government,  to  be  exercised  through  the 
atonement  of  his  beloved  Son;  that  with  this  sacrifice  God  is 
well  pleased,  and  can,  consistently  with  all  his  perfections, 
pardon  and  accept  of  any  sinner,  whatever  he  hath  done,  who 
believeth  in  him. 

What  say  you  to  this?  The  truth  of  it  hath  been  confirmed 
by  the  most  unquestionable  proofs.  It  first  began  to  be  spo- 
ken by  the  Lord  himself,  and  it  has  been  confirmed  unto  us 
by  them  that  heard  him;  God  also  bearing  them  witness  with 
signs  and  wonders,  and  divers  miracles.  The  witness  of  the 
three  in  heaven,  the  Father,  the  Word,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  is 
borne  to  this;  namely,  that  "God hath  given  tons  eternal  life, 
and  this  life  is  in  his  Son  :"  and  to  this  also  is  directed  the 
witness  of  the  three  on  earth,  the  Spirit,  and  the  Water  and 
the  Blood.  Can  you  subscribe  to  this  great  truth,  in  all  its 
bearings,  and  rest  the  salvation  of  your  soul  upon  it;  or  do 
you  doubt  whether  you  be  so  guilty,  so  helpless,  or  in  so  dan- 
gerous a  state  as  this  doctrine  supposes?  Is  it  as  one  of  the 
'  chief  of  sinners  that  you  view  yourself;  or  does  it  grate  upon 
your  feelings  to  receive  forgiveness  in  that  humble  character  ? 
In  suing  for  mercy,  are  you  content  to  stand  on  the  same  low 
ground  as  if  you  were  a  convict  actually  going  to  be  executed; 
or  does  your  heart  secretly  pine  after  salvation  less  humilia- 
ting, in  which  some  account  might  be  made  of  that  difference 
of  character  by  which  you  may  have  been  distinguished  from 
the  vilest  of  men,  and  in  which  you  might  be  in  some  degree 
a  co-operator  with  God?  Does  that  which  pleaseB  God,  please 
von :  or  does  vour  mind  revolt  at  it  ?    It  meets  all  yTour  want*. 


11 

hut  none  of  your  prejudices,  and  proud  thoughts,  or  vicious 
propensities;  all  these  must  come  down,  and  he  made  to 
sacrifice  to  it.     Can  you  subscribe  to  it  on  these  terms  ? 

I  am  well  aware,  that  the  great  concern  of  persons  in  your 
situation,  is  to  obtain  peace  of  mind;  and  any  thing  which 
promises  to  afford  this,  attracts  your  attention.  If  this  Gos- 
pel be  believed  with  all  your  heart,  it  will  give  you  peace. 
This  is  the  good  and  the  old  way  ;  walk  in  it  and  you  shall 
find  rest  for  your  soul  ^  but  it  is  not  everything  which  prom- 
ises peace,  that  will  ultimately  afford  it.  It  is  at  our  peril  to 
offer  you  other  consolation,  and  at  yours  to  receive  it.     * 

Consider,  and  beware,  I  say  again,  as  you  regard  your  eter- 
nal salvation,  that  you  take  up  your  rest  in  nothing  short  of 
Christ!  Particularly, 

1.  Beiuare  of  brooding  over  your  guilt  in  a  way  of  unbelieving 
despondence  ;  and  so  of  standing  aloof  from  the  hope  of  mercy .  Say 
not,  "  My  sins  have  been  too  great,  too  numerous,  or  too  ag- 
gravated to  be  forgiven."  "The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  his 
Son  cleanseth  from  all  sin,"  Believest  thou  this?  You  are 
not  straitened  in  him,  but  in  your  own  bowels.  God's  thoughts 
are  not  as  your  thoughts,  nor  his  ways  as  your  ways:  as  the 
heavens  are  higher  than  the  earth,  so  are  his  thoughts  higher 
than  your  thoughts,  and  his  ways  than  your  ways.  On  the 
sinner  that  returneth  to  our  God  he  bestoweth  abundant  par- 
don. It  is  not,  '"if  thou  canst  do  any  thing,  help  me  ;"  but, 
"If  thou  canst  believe — all  things  are  possible  to  him  that 
believeth."  Of  what  dost  thou  doubt?  Of  his  all-sufficiency? 
He  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost  all  that  come  unto  God  by 
him.  Of  his  willingness?  Ought  not  his  gracious  invitations 
to  satisfy  thee  on  this  head?  Can  you  imagine  that  he  would 
proclaim,  saying,  "Whosoever  thirsteth,  let  him  come  unto 
me  and  drink,"  and  yet  be  l'eluctant  to  gratify  the  desires  of 
those  that  come  ip  him  ?  Objections,  on  the  ground  of  the  great- 
ness of  guilt  and  unworthiness,  may  seem  to  wear  the 
face  of  modesty  and  humility;  but,  after  all,  it  becomes 
you  to  consider  whether  they  be  any  other  than  the  workings 
of  a  self-righteous  spirit.  If  you  could  find  in  your  heart 
to  accept  of  mercy  as  one  of  the  chief  of  sinners,  all  your  ob- 
jections would  vanish  in  a  moment. 

One  sees,  in  your  very  tears  of  despondency,    a    pining 
after  acceptance  with  God   by  something  in  yourself.     Were 


12    « 

they  put  into  words,  they  would  amount  to  something 
like  this:  "If  I  had  but  somewhat  to  recommend  me  to 
the  Saviour,  I  could  go  to  him  with  assurance;  or,  if  I  had 
been  less  wicked,  I  might  hope  for  acceptance."  And  what 
is  this  but  making  good  the  complaint  of  our  Saviour?  "  Ye 
will  not  come  unto  me,  that  ye  may  have  life!"  Such  long- 
ings after  something  to  recommend  you  to  the  Saviour,  are 
no  other  than  "going  about  to  establish  your  own  righteous- 
ness;" and  while  this  is  the  case,  there  i#"great danger  of  your 
being  given  up  to  imagine  that  you  find  the  worthiness  in 
yourself  which  your  soul  desireth. 

2.  Beiuare  of  dwelling,  in  a  xoay  of  self-complacency,  on  those 
reformations  which  may  have  been  produced  by  the  power  af  convic- 
tion. This  is  another  of  those  workings  of  unbelief,  by  which 
many  have  come  short  of  believing,  and  so  of  entering  into 
rest.  There  is  no  doubt  but  your  convictions  have  driven  you 
from  the  commission  of^grosser  vices,  and  probably  have  fright- 
ened you  into  a  compliance  with  various  religious  duties :  but 
these  are  only  the  loppings  off  of  thebranches  of  sin;  the  root 
remains  unmortified.  It  is  not  the  breaking  off  of  your  sins 
that  will  turn  to  any  account,  unless  they  be  broken  off  by 
righteousness ;  and  this  will  not  be  the  case  but  by  believing  in 
Christ.  The  power  of  corruption  may  have  only  retired  into 
its  strong  holds,  from  whence,  if  you  embrace  not  the  Gospel- 
way  of  salvation,  it  will  soon  come  forth  with  increased  ener- 
gy, and  sweep  away  all  your  fancied  reformations.  Nay,  it 
is  very  possible,  that  while  the  lusts  of  the  flesh  have  seemed  to 
recede,  those  of  the  mind,  particularly  spiritual  pride,  may 
have  already  increased  in  strength.  If,  indeed,  you  dwell  on 
your  reformations,  and  draw  comfort  from  them,  it  is  an  un- 
doubted proof  that  it  is  so ;  and  then, instead  of  being  reformed, 
or  nearer  the  kingdom  of  heaven  than  you  were  before,  your 
character  is  more  offensive  to  God  than  ever.  Publicans  and 
harlots  are  more  likely  to  enter  into  it  than  you. 

Besides,  if  your  reformations  were  ever  so  virtuous — which 
they  are  not,  in  his  sight  by  whom  actions  are  weighed — yet, 
while  you  are  an  unbeliever,  they  cannot  be  accepted.  You 
yourself  must  firet  be  accepted  in  the  Beloved,  ere  any  thing 
that  you  offer  can  be  received.  "It  does  not  consist  with  the 
honor  of  the  majesty  of  the  King  of  heaven  and  earth,  (o  ac- 
cept of  any  thing  from  a  condemned  malefactor,  condemned 


13 

by  the  justice  of  his  own  holy  law,  till  that  condemnation  be 
removed. " 

3.  Beware  of  deriving  comfort  from  the  distress  of  mind  which 
you  may  have  undergone,  or  from  any  feelings  within  you.  Some 
religious  people  will  tell  you,  that  these  workings  of  mind  are 
a  sign  that  God  has  mercy  in  reserve  for  you;  and  that,  if  you 
go  on  in  the  way  you  are  in,  waiting  as  at  the  pool,  all 
will  he  well  in  the  end ;  but  such  language  requires  great 
qualification.  It  is  not  your  being  distressed  in  mind  that 
will  prove  anything  in  your  favor,  but  the  issue  of  it.  Saul 
was  distressed  as  well  as  David;  and  Judas,  as  well  as  Peter. 
When  the  murderers  of  our  Lord  were  pricked  in  their  hearts, 
Peter  did  not  comfort  them  by  representing  this  their  unhap- 
piness  as  a  hopeful  sign  of  conversion  ;  but  exhorted  them  to 
repent,  and  be  baptized  every  one  of  them  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ,  for  the  -remission  of  sins. 

And  thus  it  was  with  Paul  and  Silas,  wflen  the  jailer  was 
impressed  with  fear  and  di-may  :•  they  gave  him  no  encour- 
agement from  thence,  but  preached  Jesus  Christ  as  the  only 
source  of  hope.  If  one  who  had  slain  a  man  in  Israel,  had 
stopped  short  of  the  city  of  refuge,  and  endeavored  to  draw- 
comfort  from  the  alarm  which  he  had  felt,  lest  the  avenger  of 
blood  should  overtake  him,  would  he  have  been  safe?  There 
is  no  security  to  you  or  to  any  man,  but  in  fleeing  immediately 
to  the  Gospel-refuge,  and  laying  hold  of  the  hope  set  before 
you.  If  you  take  comfort  from  your  distress,  you  are  in  im- 
miment  danger  of  stopping  short  of  Christ,  and  so  of  perishing 
for  ever.  Many  no  doubt,  have  done  so ;  and  that  which  they 
have  accounted  waiting  at  the  pool  for  the  moving  of  the 
waters,  lias  proved  no  other  than  settling  upon  a  false  founda- 
tion'. Indeed,  it  must  needs  be  so  ;  for  as  there  is  no  medium, 
in  one  that  has  heard  the  gospel,  between  faith  and  unbelief, 
he  that  does  not  believe  in  Jesus  for  salvation,  if  he  have  any 
hope  of  it,  must  derive  that  hope  from  something  in  himself. 

4.  Beware  of  considering  faith  itself  the  meritorious  ground  of 
acceptance  with  God.  It  is  true,  that  believing  is  an  act  ot 
yours,  and  an  act  of  obedience  to  God.  .  Far  be  it  from  me 
that  I  should  convey  an  idea  of  anything  short  of  a  cordial 
reception  of  the  Gospel  being  accompanied  with  salvation:  a  re- 
ception that  involves  a  renunciation  of  self-righteousness, and 
a  submission  to  the  righteousness  of  God.  But  if  you  consider 


14 

it  as  a  species  of  sincere  obedience,  which  God  haa  consented 
to  accept,  instead  of  a  perfect  one  ;  and  if  you  hope  to  be  jus- 
tified in  reward  of  it,  you  are  still,  "going  about  to  establish 
your  own  righteousness"  under  an  evangelical  name.  This 
is  the  commandment  of  Gfod,  that  ye  believe  on  the  name  of 
his  Son.  Faith  is  an  act  of  obedience  to  God,  yet  it  is  not  as 
such  that  it  justifies  us,  but  as  receiving  Christ,  and  bringing 
us  into  a  living  union  with  him,  for  whose  sake  alone  we  are 
accepted  and  saved. 

Finally:  Beware  of  taking  comfort  from  any  impulse,  &r 
unfounded  persuasion  that  your  sins  are  forgiven,  and  that  you  are 
a  favorite  of  God.  Many  are  deceived  in  thi3  way,  andimistake 
such  a  persuasion  for -faith  itself.  When  a  sinner  is  driven 
from  all  his  former  holds,  it  is  not  unusual  for  him,  instead 
of  falling  at  the  feet  of  Christ  as  utterly  lost,  to  catch  at  any 
new  conceit,  however  unscriptural  and  absurb,  if  it  will  but 
afford  him  relief.  If,  in  such  a  state  of  mind,  he  receives 
an  impression,1  perhaps  in  the  words  of  Scripture,  .that  God 
has  forgiven  and  accepted  him,  or  dreams  that  he  is  in  heav- 
en, or  reads  a  book,  or  hears  a  sermon  favorable  to  such  a 
method  of  obtaining  relief,  he  eagerly  imbibes  it,  and  becomes 
intoxicated  with  the  delicious  draught.  The  joy  of  hope  being 
so  new  and  unexpected  a  thing,  and  succeeding  to  great 
darkness  and  distress,  produces  a  wonderful  change  in  his 
mind.  Now  he  thinks  he  has  discovered  the  light  of  life,  and 
feels  as  one  that  has  lost  his  burden.  Now  he  has  found  out 
the  true  religion ;  and  all  that  he  read  or  heard  before,  not 
affording  him  relief,  is  false  doctrine,  or  legal  preaching. 
Being  treated  also  as  one  of  the  dear  children  of  God  br- 
others of  the  same  description,  he  is  attached  to  his  flatterers, 
and  despised  those  as  graceless 'who  would  rob  him  of  his 
comforts,  by  warning  him  against  "the  lie  which  is  in  his 
right  hand." 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  all  consolation  which  comes  sud- 
denly to  the  mind,  or  by  the  impression  of  a  passage  of  Scrip- 
ture, any  more  thau  by  reading,  or  hearing,  is  delusive.  It/is 
not  the  manner  in  which  we  obtain  relief,  that  is  of'aiiy  account, 
\mt  what  it  is  that  comforts  us.  If  it  be  the  doctrine  of  the  cross, 
or  any  revealed  truth  pertaining  to  it, this  is  Gospel  consolation; 
but  if  it  be  a  supposed  revelation   from  heaven  of  something 


15 

which  is  not  taught  in  the  Scriptures,  that  is  a  species  of  com- 
fort on  which  no  dependence  can  be  placed.  A  believer  ma  y 
be  so  far  misled,  as  to  be  carried  away  with  it ;  but,  if  a  man 
have  nothing  better,  he  is  still  an  unbeliever. 

If  ever  you  obtain  that  rest  for  your  soul  which  will  bear 
the  light,  it  must  be,  not  from  anything  within  you,  but  by 
looking  out  of  yourself  to  Christ,  as  revealed  in  the  Gospel. 
You  may  afterwards  know  that  you  have  passed  from  death 
unto  life,  by  the  love  you  bear  to-  the  brethren,  and  by  many 
other  Scriptural  evidences :  and  from  the  time  of  your  em- 
bracing the  Gospel-remedy,  you  may  be  conscious  of  it,  and 
so  enjoy  the  hope  of  the  promised  salvation;  but  your  first 
relief,  if  it  be  genuine,  will  be  drawn  directly  from  Christ,  or 
from  finding  that  in. the  doctrine  of  salvation  through  his 
death,  which  suits  your  wants  and  wishes  as  a  perishing 
sinner. 


Having  thus  warned  yon  against  certain  by-paths,  I  shall 
conclude  with  a  few  additional  directions  concerning^the  good 
and  the  right  way.  «■ 

To  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  is  to  receive  him  as  he 
is  revealed  in  the  Gospel.  Christ  is  God's  first  gilt,  with,  or 
for  the  sake  of  whom,  he  bestows  all  others;  and  believing  in 
him  corresponds  with  it.  If  God  first  give  Christ,  and  with  him 
all  things  freely,  we  must  first  receive  Christ,  and  with  him  all 
things  freely.  Hence  it  is  said,  "  He  that  hath  not  the  Son  of 
God,  hatli  not  life.'/  We  must  receive  him  as  that  for  which 
he  was  given, which  was  to  be  a  sacrifice,or  propitiation  for  sin, 
that  God  might  be  just  in  justifying  poor  ungodly  sinners  who 
believe  in;  him.  We  must  trust  in  him  as  the  sole  ground. of 
hope,  and  plead  for  pardon  only  in  his  name.  Receiving 
Christ  as  by  a  marriage-covenant,  we  become  one  with  him, 
and  so  are  interested  in  all  that  he  hath  done  and  suffered  on 
earth,  and  in  all  that  he  is  now  doing  at  the  right  hand  ot 
God,  # 

But  though  believing  in  Christ  has  a  special  respect  to  him 
as  the  way  of  acceptance  with  God,  yet,  when  you  receive  him 
as  your  atoning  Priest,you  will  also  receive  him  as  your  King. 
When  you  "come"  to  him,  as  guilty  and  heavy-laden,  for 
rest,  you  will  at.  the  same  time  "take  his  yoke  upon  you," 


16 

and  "learn- his  meek  and  lowly  spirit.-"  Though  we  are  jus ti- 
Jied  by  faith  alone,  yet  it  is  not  by.  a  faith  which  is  alone,  but 
contains  the  seeds  of  universal  obedience.  In  one  view, 
namely,  as  receiving  the  Saviour,  and  uniting  us  to  him,  it 
justifietk^  in  another  view,  namely,  as  including  the  princi- 
ples of  a  holy  life,  it sanctifieth. 

In  thig  way,  reader,  you  will 'find  rest  for  your  soul.  In  your 
journey  to  the  heavenly  world,  you  will  have  much  to  do, 
much  to  oppose,  and  it  may  be,  much  to  suffer ;  but  by  a  life 
of  faith  on  him  in  whom  you  first  believed,  you  will  find 
strength  equal  to  your  day.  Duties  will  be  pleasant,  temp- 
tations will  be  overcome, -and  the  sufferings  of  this  present  life 
will  work  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory. 


